The use, of thermal pads for applying hot or cold therapy to different portions of the body has long been recognized as a desirable treatment for a number of conditions. Such treatment has been found helpful in relieving the pain of injuries and arthritis as well as in treating selected body portions such as joints, muscles and the like for sprains, excessive exercise and numerous other conditions.
It is to be noted that the different body portions to be subjected to such treatment include portions of the limbs which can readily be wrapped or encased by a thermal pad as well as substantial, relatively flat portions of the body trunk where the pad must generally be applied in an extended or flat condition.
In treatments of the type summarized above, thermal pads for applying both hot and cold therapy have most commonly relied upon providing a thermal pad which is either hot or cold depending upon the desired treatment. For example, such uses commonly employed heat pads immersed in hot fluid or liquid, electric heat pads, chemical heat pads, cold packs immersed in cold fluid or liquid and direct application of ice to body portions by means of such a thermal pad. These forms of treatment commonly resulted in hot spots, cold spots, cold burns, uncomfortable ice-body contact, moisture on the selected body parts being treated and usually relatively rapid loss of either the hot or cold condition of the pad. Accordingly, it was also necessary to frequently change the pads or to re-immerse them in either hot or cold fluid or liquid.
Improvements in treatment techniques as described above have included the use of improved fasteners such as those available under the VELCRO trade name for securing the pads in place. In addition, although many of the improved systems still employ pads which are themselves either hot or cold, certain prior art systems have been provided for supplying either hot or cold fluid from a separate source. However, these systems were relatively complex. One such system involved the use of an insulated container filled with either hot or cold fluid and connected with heating/cooling units shaped to conform to particular body portions such as the feet or joints. In these prior art systems, fluid from the separate container was allowed to flow to the cuff by gravity and after a selected period of time, the container could be lowered to permit the fluid to flow from the cuff back into the container.
A portable heating/cooling system of the type generally contemplated by the present invention was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,249 issued Aug. 9, 1994 to the inventor of the present invention.
Although these prior art systems and devices were found to be generally adequate for their intended purpose, there has been found to remain a need for further improvements in such systems and methods of use for achieving improved treatment.